If Muhammad “Mojo” Joyo and Zainab Joyo had any doubt that San Francisco was ready to welcome the second location of their popular business, Elaichi Co., then those concerns have been quickly quelled.
The cafe — the first standalone chai-only destination in San Francisco — opened quietly on April 19, and already neighbors have welcomed the husband and wife with gifts like doughnuts and tech company swag.
As Muhammad bustled around the cafe on Thursday afternoon, a customer interrupted to express his elation. “Sorry to interrupt, but I live right here, and I used to have to go to Berkeley to get chai,” he told Joyo. “There was no chai cafe in the city.”
A grand opening party is set for Saturday, featuring DJs, family-friendly activities, and free chai. For now, the shop is open six days a week, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and until 5 p.m. on Saturdays. After the opening celebration, Muhammad says they will extend those hours and stay open until 7 or 9 p.m.
The debut adds a new dimension to the city’s beverage scene. Elaichi is not the first San Francisco cafe to specialize in chai. But Samovar, a chai and tea shop that previously had multiple locations in the city, flipped all its stores into Joyride Pizza outposts during the pandemic. David Rio Chai, which had a large Market Street location, no longer operates a physical cafe. Moreover, there’s never been a Pakistani-owned and operated chai cafe in San Francisco until now.
Unlike at the original Berkeley location, which opened in 2024, there’s no coffee on the menu at the SoMa cafe. Joyo says this will give the team time to play around with chai itself. Menu staples include karak chai, oat chai, chai from the Kashmir region of India, and masala chai, which previously appeared as a seasonal offering at the Berkeley location.
New spice blends and other chai drinks that are not available at the East Bay location will be added to the menu down the road. On the food side, pastry options include elaichi buns made with cardamom-scented brioche, jaggery chocolate chip cookies, and more.
Muhammad says he and Zainab had just 30 days to get the space, which was previously home to Italian cafe La Capra, ready for service. The couple was able to secure the location through the city’s Vacant to Vibrant program, which connects small businesses with landlords to set up short-term leases. So far, Muhammad says the shop has been busy, thanks to the fans from their Berkeley location who live in the city, fans who live in Berkeley but trekked to the city to support the new location, and the fans from further afield who are thankful Elaichi is even closer to them.
The couple started the company while still working jobs in tech, and now rent space in an Emeryville commissary kitchen with the goal of adding viennoiserie to their pastry offerings. They’ve already secured their first wholesale contract: the bookstore and cafe Love Potion Library (opens in new tab) in Noe Valley. It’s a far cry from when they opened, using tiny ovens. “I feel like we were children back then,” Muhammad says, “but it was just two years ago.”
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